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Review
. 2017 Jul 4:9:461-471.
doi: 10.2147/BCTT.S111098. eCollection 2017.

Comparative diagnostic accuracy of 18F-FDG PET/CT for breast cancer recurrence

Roberta Piva  1 , Flavia Ticconi  1 , Valentina Ceriani  1 , Federica Scalorbi  2 , Francesco Fiz  1 , Selene Capitanio  3 , Matteo Bauckneht  1 , Giuseppe Cittadini  4 , Gianmario Sambuceti  1 , Silvia Morbelli  5
Affiliations
Review

Comparative diagnostic accuracy of 18F-FDG PET/CT for breast cancer recurrence

Roberta Piva et al. Breast Cancer (Dove Med Press). .

Abstract

In the last decades, in addition to conventional imaging techniques and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG PET/CT) has been shown to be relevant in the detection and management of breast cancer recurrence in doubtful cases in selected groups of patients. While there are no conclusive data indicating that imaging tests, including FDG PET/CT, produce a survival benefit in asymptomatic patients, FDG PET/CT can be useful for identifying the site of relapse when traditional imaging methods are equivocal or conflicting and for identifying or confirming isolated loco-regional relapse or isolated metastatic lesions. The present narrative review deals with the potential role of FDG PET in these clinical settings by comparing its accuracy and impact with conventional imaging modalities such as CT, ultrasound, bone scan, 18F-sodium fluoride PET/CT (18F-NaF PET/CT) as well as MRI. Patient-focused perspectives in terms of patients' satisfaction and acceptability are also discussed.

Keywords: breast cancer; positron emission tomography; restaging.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Breast cancer patient with rising tumor marker (cancer antigen 15.3) and negative CT scan. Notes: FDG-PET highlights an 11 mm lymph node with moderate FDG uptake. The presence of disease relapse within this lymph node was confirmed by means of ultrasound-guided biopsy. Three-section imaging (A: PET; B: three-slices fused imaging); transaxial section (C: fused imaging; D: PET; E: CT). Abbreviations: CT, computed tomography; FDG, fluorodeoxyglucose; PET, positron emission tomography.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparison between PET and CT in different types of bone lesions. Notes: A–C: vertebral lesion with high FDG uptake in the absence of structural lesion on CT (metastasis in the bone marrow); D–F: CT sclerotic lesion in the right iliac bone with no concentration of FDG (likely a lesion with low cellularity); G–I: mixed bone lesion in the right sacroiliac bone on CT images markedly positive on the FDG PET scan. Abbreviations: CT, computed tomography; FDG, fluorodeoxyglucose; PET, positron emission tomography.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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